To decorate one's hair with morning glories, complete with a tiny snail on one leaf, may not be everyone's idea of chic. However, if they are fashioned by Tsuyoshi Ishida out of sheer silk, it is another matter.

"The key step is creating the design," said Ishida, a third-generation craftsman of tsumami kanzashi, a type of ornamental hairpin worn with the kimono. Along with his father Kenji, he is one of the 15 or so craftsmen around Japan who carries on the tradition dating back to the Edo Period, over 200 years ago. According to 1877 statistics, there were 1,000 kanzashi makers in Tokyo alone.

The craft is characterized by two techniques for "pinching" (tsumamu) the dyed silk which is cut into small squares. Working on his dining table at home in Shinjuku Ward, Ishida first spreads starch adhesive liberally on a small wooden board. Using a pair of tweezers, he picks up a piece of green silk measuring 1 sq. cm, folds it diagonally three times, gives it a sharp crease with a flick of the tweezers and places the tiny triangle on the starch. This is "square pinching," as opposed to "round pinching," which produces a softer effect.